Westminster
'''Westminster '''is a Southern Railway Maunsell V/"Schools" class 4-4-0 owned by the Moorland Steam Railway. He's one of the railway's flagship locomotives and one of the fastest locomotives in the railway's fleet. Bio Westminster's service life was mostly spent on the Southern Railway's seaside routes and was rescued for preservation by the Moorland Steam Railway following withdrawal in 1961. He was found in Eastleigh scrapyard in 1963 with the railway needing to find a locomotive from the Southern Region. By the time Stovold was nearly ready for a test run in 1965, Westminster was fully restored to operational condition and became the first locomotive to head a train formed of LNER-liveried teak stock (the Thompson coaches the had from 1962 restored to original livery) on the railway. After around 7 years of running, Westminster failed outside Birdsville following the instalment of air braking for mainline certification. This lead to him being statically displayed at Northampsmith MPD in his original Southern Railway Olive Green livery. In 2001, the MSR decided to return him to traffic as he was one of the railway's flagship locomotives, leading to him being repainted back to BR Brunswick Green with Early Emblems. He was returned to traffic in 2008 with the air braking equipment removed. He was retired in 2018 when his boiler ticket expired. He's always trying to get his chance to travel on the mainlines in the South of England again. Basis or real locomotive Westminster is based off the real life locomotive. It was built by Eastleigh works in 1930 for express-passenger duties around the routes of the Southern Railway. No. 908 was named after Westminster School, a boarding school in London. It was withdrawn in 1961 and scrapped later that year. The SR V/"Schools" class was the most powerful 4-4-0s ever built in Britain, even in a time when the Whyte Notation was no longer needed and being replaced by more powerful 4-6-0s and 4-6-2s. Livery Westminster only makes one appearance in The Midlander, in the final scene of the movie. He's clearly painted in BR Brunswick Green with Early Emblems on his tender. In the planned mini-series, he's first seen in scrapyard condition in 1963 (even when he's been at Eastleigh for only two years). In the 1990s, Westminster is painted into Southern Maunsell Olive Green livery. Trivia According to Westminster, he worked with the late-'Beachy Head' before her scrapping in 1962. Westminster's main model is a OO gauge model of the locomotive in BR Green with Early Emblems by Hornby. This model is a part of the 2019 range. Beachy Head is said to be Westminster's self-conscious, trying to get him scrapped too. Spite being not mainline registered, Westminster was a candidate for mainline running in the 1980s and 1990s. When he was fitted with the equipment to certify him, he broke down with a shattered middle big end crankpin. Westminster is one of two 4-4-0s preserved by the Moorland Steam Railway. The other being Stovold, while Killarney is a replica. Prior to his real tender being finished, Westminster was paired with a Fowler 3,500 gallon, three-axle tender. This came from a Fowler 4F 0-6-0 the railway bought in 1964 of British Railways. Category:Moorland Steam Railway Category:Tender locomotives Category:Ex-SR